Friends Forever
by HistoryObsessed92
Summary: Marianne and Victoria are best friends at the London orphanage. Marianne's uncle Bob and aunt Donna adopt them both and they move to Scotland. Little do they know that an adventure awaits them, that will change their lives.
1. Prologue

Prologue.

The London orphanage wasn't all that bad when I was living there for a short time, after mum and dad were both killed in a car accident. At the orphanage is where I met Victoria Benson... and we quickly became best friends. We understood each other when it came to talking about how we felt about our parents being gone. She had lost her parents in a boating accident, when they went out on their yacht for a weekend, to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The only real family I ever knew was my mum and dad, because neither of them were close to their siblings or parents, so when the social worker, at the orphanage, began calling all of my relatives, to see if any of them wanted to take me in, many of them did not want to. Of course, I did not blame them for not wanting me, because who would want a fourteen year old girl who just lost her parents and was still grieving? Anyway, I did not want to leave the orphanage, I would be happy living there, with Victoria, until we were both old enough to leave.

Last on the list, of my relatives, for the social worker to call, was my fathers step sister, aunt Donna, and her husband, uncle Bob. Two days after the social worker had contacted them, she sat down with me and said that they were going to adopt me. I was not happy about this and told the social worker that I did not want to leave the orphanage because I wanted to stay with Victoria, but she said that I could not stay because it was only a home for orphans until they are taken in by relatives. If children had no relatives who were willing to take them in, they were placed in foster care, and that is what would happen to Victoria, if I did not stay.


	2. Chapter 1 Kindred Spirits

June 16th 2011.

Aunt Donna arrived at the orphanage to pick me up, four days after she and uncle Bob had agreed to adopt me. Uncle Bob nor my cousin, Tony, were able to come with her to get me, because uncle Bob absolutely could not miss work and Tony had just started school, so aunt Donna did not want him missing any days.

I sat on one of the large window seats, in the upstairs hallway of the orphanage, with Victoria. We always sat there in the evenings, after supper, to read and talk.

"I do not think I can possibly live here without you, Marianne." Victoria said. I smiled and nodded,

"I feel the same way. It will be so boring in Scotland with no friends. I wish you could come live with me." I replied, as I closed my book and put it down.

"Yes, I wish the same." We sat in silence for a few minutes, until I had this brilliant idea.

"What if you can come live with me in Scotland, would you?" I asked. Victoria looked up from her book and gave me a strange look.

"Is that trick question?" She asked. We both laughed.

"Of course I would." She said, with a smile. Just as I was about to reply, I heard the social worker, from the bottom of the stairs, call out...

"Miss. Marianne Ellis, your aunt has arrived!" I jumped up from the window seat and said to Victoria.

"Wait here, I will be right back." I said to her, then I went downstairs to see my aunt.

She stood up from her chair when I came in the room, and she smiled. I smiled back and embraced her.

"Oh sweetheart, how you have grown since I last saw you. How old are you now?" Aunt Donna asked.

"I will be fifteen on the tenth day of August."

"Well then, we will have to have a birthday party for you." She replied with a wide smile.

I nodded and then sighed. She turned back to me and said,

"What's the matter Marianne?"

"I cannot leave the orphanage." I said simply. Aunt Donna gave a curious look to the social worker.

"Miss. Ellis does not wish to leave the orphanage because since she got here, she has formed a very strong bond with another one our orphans here." The social worker explained. Aunt Donna sighed as she sat beside me, and put her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her, with sad eyes.

"Aunt Donna, I cannot leave Victoria, we are best friends. We are kindred spirits in everything. I must stay with her, as best friends are never far from each other... it is a promise you make to each other, when you become best friends with someone."

She nodded, and looked as though she was thinking.

"Well, Marianne, how about we go back to the hotel I have rented, until we fly to Scotland, and I will think of something, so that you and Victoria can still stay best friends, after we get to Scotland...?" I figured that was a good answer, and it calmed me, but I just hoped that her idea was to also adopt Victoria.

I went back upstairs and told Victoria what aunt Donna had told me. I told her not give up hope and that I would find a way for us to stay best friends. I told her that I would do my absolute best to convince aunt Donna to let her come to Scotland and live with us.

* When Aunt Donna and I got to her hotel, she sat down with me, and I wondered if she had already made up her mind. "Marianne, I cannot promise you that Victoria will be able to come to Scotland and live with us, because I know that is what you want, but I will ask uncle Bob if he would be alright with it. I, personally, do not mind having two daughters, I have always wanted a daughter and having two would be exciting for me. But, if uncle Bob says no, then we will make sure that she can come and visit you and that you have a computer and plenty of stamps and a large stationary, so that you can email and write to her as many times as you want." I thought all of this a good idea, so I nodded and agreed.

"Thank you aunt Donna." I said with a smile.

"No problem, my dear. I want you to be very happy living with us in Scotland, so your uncle Bob and I will do everything we can to make it happy for you." I appreciated her saying this to me, it was nice to hear her say that.

* Success! Aunt Donna called uncle Bob the day before we were going to Scotland, and he agreed to adopt Victoria, as well. I was overjoyed at this, and I thanked uncle Bob many times, over the phone, before aunt Donna hung up.

After lunch, aunt Donna and I went back to the orphanage, where the owner already knew that aunt Donna and uncle Bob had agreed to adopt Victoria, but she did not know yet, I wanted to tell her myself.

When we got there, I rushed upstairs to the window seat where Victoria and I usually sat together, and sure enough she was sitting there, writing in her diary.

"Hello Victoria." I said with a wide smile, as I sat down next to her.

"Marianne, what are you doing here... I thought you had left for Scotland already?"

She asked. I shook my head and replied,

"Oh Victoria, I cannot possibly leave for my new home, and leave my sister behind, now can I?" I hoped that she would understand what I meant. Right away, she smiled widely, and quickly closed her book.

"Has your aunt agreed to..." She paused, wanting me to finish.

"To adopt you... yes, she has, and so has my uncle." I said, my tone of voice full of excitement. Victoria smiled so widely, that her dimples could not go any higher. She embraced me, and we started to laugh, we were both happy.


	3. Chapter 2 New home

June 18th.

The next day, Victoria, aunt Donna, and I, left the hotel and took a taxi to the airport.

Aunt Donna told me that the flight from London to Scotland was only going to be four hours long. I had never been on an air plane before, but Victoria had been on one three times before, so she was a comfort to my nerves, when we boarded the plane. Victoria and I talked for an hour or so with aunt Donna, who told us about the area of Scotland they lived in, and that it was beautiful.

Five hours later.

When the air plane landed at the airport in Edinburgh, which was my new home, except aunt Donna, uncle Bob, and cousin Tony, lived out in the country side. We had to wait one hour, after getting off the air plane, to get our bags because there was a delay for the bags on the flight we had been on. Finally, at seven o'clock, we got our bags and went outside to the front and got in a taxi.

"How far is the house, aunt Donna?" I asked.

"About thirty minutes from here." She replied with a smile.

"Good, because we cannot live very far from town, or else we will not be able to go shopping." I looked at Victoria and we started to laugh. Aunt Donna shook her head at us, and giggled.

"You girls will love the countryside, especially the area we live in. There are two castles near by our house... both are over five hundred years old." Aunt Donna said. My mouth dropped,

"Five hundred years old! And they are both still standing?" Victoria asked.

"Yes they are, I guess in those days buildings were built extremely well." She replied.

"I suppose so, if they are still standing." I said.

When the taxi drove up to the house, aunt Donna smiled and said,

"Here we are." Victoria and I looked out our window and were in awe because of how big the house was. I turned to aunt Donna and said,

"This is our new home?" She nodded, as she got out of the taxi... Victoria and I followed.

"Bloody hell, this house is gigantic!" Victoria exclaimed.

"No kidding. My god, I wonder how many bedrooms there are..."

"There are seven bedrooms. Uncle Bob and I have our room, Tony has his, you two get your own, and there are three guest bedrooms." Aunt Donna said, as we got our bags out of the trunk of the taxi.

"How many loo's are there?" Victoria asked aunt Donna. She looked at her with a strange look and asked,

"What's that?" She asked. I laughed and said,

"The loo is the toilet..."

"Oh you mean, how many bathrooms are there..." Victoria nodded.

"There is one connecting the two rooms that you two can have, Tony has his own, Bob and I have our own, there is one in the upstairs hallway for guests, and there is one downstairs, right next to the laundry room."

"Bloody hell, there are five loo's!" I exclaimed.

"What does that mean, bloody hell?" Aunt Donna asked, as I got my last bag out of the trunk, and she paid the taxi driver.

"It is an English way of saying oh my god."

"Ah I see, well I would like you not to use that word around Tony, seeing as he is only ten years old." Victoria and I nodded.

"Yes aunt Donna, I understand. We will not say it in front of cousin Tony." When we got to the door, aunt Donna was about to open it, but uncle Bob did instead. Aunt Donna was surprised to see him home.

"Hi honey. You're home early..." Victoria and I followed her inside, and kept a hold of our bags.

"Lord McAshton let me off early because I told him about the adoption, so he said I should be home when the girls arrive." Aunt Donna smiled.

"Oh well that was nice of him." She said. Uncle Bob smiled at me and said,

"Well if it isn't miss Marianne Ellis. My goodness, have you have grown up since the last time we saw you." I smiled and gave him a hug.

"Hi uncle Bob." I then looked at Victoria and said,

"Uncle Bob, this is my best friend Victoria Benson." He held out his hand to Victoria and she shook it,

"Hello sir, it is nice to meet you." She said, with a slight smile.

"It is nice to meet you too, Victoria." There was a minute or so of silence between us all, then aunt Donna said,

"Well, why don't you girls take your stuff upstairs and unpack..." We nodded, and uncle Bob helped us bring some of our bags up, since Victoria and I each had six bags.

When we walked into the first room, which connected to the other, there was only a queen size bed, a small couch, a large fire place, a closet, and a large window with a window seat.

"I hope you girls don't mind sharing this room and the bed for a few days, until we can go into town and buy you each your own bed..." I shook my head, as I put my bags down.

"I do not mind at all... do you Victoria?" I asked. She shook her head as well, as she sat down on the window seat.

"Oh no, I do not mind." She replied, with a smile. Uncle Bob nodded and said,

"Good. Well, Tony is just in his room doing his homework, if you girls want to go see him..." I smiled.

"Why not... I have not seen my little cousin in two years, he must have grown up a lot since then." I said. Uncle Bob nodded,

"Oh yes, he has grown a lot." We followed uncle Bob down the hallway and when we came to Tony's room, he knocked once and then opened the door. Tony turned around on his chair and looked at his dad, and then at Victoria and I, who walked in. It took him a few seconds, but he finally recognized me.

"Marianne, you're are!" He quickly got up off his chair and ran over to me, giving me a hug. I smiled widely.

"My goodness, cousin Tony, have you ever grown since the last time I saw you." I said, giving him a little noogy on the head. He smiled.

"How long has it been since you saw me?" He asked.

"It has been two years, which is far too long to be away from my favourite little cousin." He laughed, and then looked at Victoria.

"Who are you?" He asked her.

"My name is Victoria, I am Marianne's friend." Uncle Bob bent down, at Tony's side and said to him,

"Victoria will be living here from now, as well, mom and I adopted her and Marianne."

"Why?" He asked. Uncle Bob looked at Victoria, not wanting to tell him why, just in case Victoria would not want anyone to know. But she told him herself,

"Because I also lost my mum and dad." I could see the sadness begin to well up in Victoria's eyes when she told Tony that. I put my hand on her shoulder, as comfort, and she nodded to me that she was okay. Tony did not say anything he just nodded.

A couple of hours later, after we ate supper, Victoria and I were so tired that we went to bed. I put my clock on the nightstand and set it for nine o'clock in the morning so that we could get up early and go shopping, if aunt Donna will bring us.


	4. Chapter 3 I do not believe in vampires

Four hours later. ~ 1am. ~ June 19th.

**I walked through some woods, searching for an exit, when suddenly I came a cross a cliff, where there were a crowd of people gathered, looking up at the sky. I looked up to see what they were watching, and that is when I saw a bright red light in the sky, it looked like a comet. Then, there was a bright red light that began shining down, and this frightened me, so I quickly started to walk back the other way. I stopped walking because I heard screams and then a loud noise, as though a truck passed by. I ran back to where the people had been standing, and saw them all trying to escape because there were men with wooden stakes trying to hurt them. I stood there, frozen with fear, when suddenly I heard a voice from behind me say,

"You can't hide from us, you monster." I turned around and saw a man holding a wooden stake at me. I screamed.**

My eyes shot open and I was breathing deeply, as I sat up in bed and looked to my side.

I saw Tony standing there.

"Tony, why are you awake?" I asked him.

"Are you okay?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yes, I am alright, just a nightmare." I replied.

"Do you want to go flying with me and my friend?" I rubbed my eyes and thought I was dreaming. What was he talking about, maybe he was sleep walking.

"What are you talking about Tony, what friend, and there is no such thing as people who can fly?" Tony looked at the bedroom door, and said,

"Tell her Rudolph, we can fly if we are hanging onto your hand." I shook my head, still half a sleep.

"Tony, do you have an imaginary friend? This is really not a time to be playing games,

I am trying to sleep." Tony shrugged,

"Rudolph isn't imaginary, he's real... look." He pointed to the door. I looked and just about jumped out of bed when I saw someone standing there.

"Bloody hell Tony, who is that!" I said, in a whispered, but frightened, tone of voice.

I must have been to noisy because Victoria rolled over on her side, facing Tony and I, and opened her eyes. She sat up, when she saw me out of bed, standing next to Tony.

"Victoria get over here, there is someone at the door." She turned and looked at the door. I saw the person wave, but I could not see his face. She jumped out of bed, to where I was standing,

"Bloody hell! Marianne, who is that?" She asked.

"That is exactly what I just asked Tony." I replied.

Tony just laughed and walked over to the person. He walked back over to us with the person and as they got closer, I saw that it was a boy, who looked around fifteen years old.

"Guys, this is my friend Rudolph, he's a vampire." Tony said. Victoria and I looked at each other, not frightened anymore. We burst out laughing, quietly, and shook out heads.

"Tony, quit playing around. There are no such thing as vampires." I looked at the boy. He started to approach me, and got very close. I started to shake, because he gave off this intimidating energy, which really freaked me out. He looked into my eyes and I saw his start to glow red. My eyes widened, which made him smirk, then he stopped.

"I apologize, if I frightened you... I will not hurt you. Any friend of Tony Thompson, is a friend of mine." He said. He was actually really cute.

"I am Tony's cousin." I said. I looked at Victoria, who did not look frightened anymore.

"And I am her friend." She said to him, as she pointed at me. He smiled and held his hand out to me,

"My name is Rudolph." I hesitated, but took his hand anyways and shook it. I flinched because his hand was freezing.

"My name is Marianne, and her name is Victoria..." I paused for a second, then added,

"Why are your hands so cold?" Rudolph chuckled, and looked at Tony.

"Because he is a vampire, and the undead have cold hands." Tony said, replying to my question, for Rudolph. I shook my head,

"Tony, I am serious, stop joking around. This is not funny... I do not believe in vampires." I said, in a serious tone. Victoria just sat, curled up on the bed, listening to us.

"I am not joking..." He looked at Rudolph and asked him,

"Is there any way you can prove to Marianne that you are really a vampire?" Rudolph nodded, and looked at me. I watched as he slowly opened his mouth to reveal two sharp fangs on the top row of his teeth, and his eyes began to glow red. I backed up and fell onto the bed, next to Victoria, who was just as freaked out as I was.

"Do you believe in vampires now, Marianne?" With my eyes still wide, I nodded. He closed his mouth, lifted an eyebrow, while he smiled, and then he looked at Tony.

"See, I told you I was serious... so will you come flying with us?" I swallowed hard, and looked at Rudolph.

"But... I do not think I should go, what if I fall?" Rudolph shook his head slowly, with a smile on his lips, as he sat next to me, on the bed, and held out his hand to me.

"As long as you are holding my hand, you will be safe. I promise that I will not let you fall." He said. I could tell, by the look in his eyes, that he was not lying. I felt like I should trust him, so I nodded and stood up.

"I have to get dressed first." I said as I went to my laundry hamper and put on the same clothes that I had come here in. Victoria got off the bed and walked over to me,

"What are you doing, what if this boy is some psycho?" She whispered to me.

"Victoria, I highly doubt he is. The look in his eyes, when he said that I would be safe, was true... I felt that it was... believe me. Now, are you coming... it might be fun, and I will not be able to go back to sleep anyways, so we might as well go?" Victoria sighed and nodded. We went into our bathroom and quickly put on our clothes, that we had come here in.

The four of us stood outside on the balcony, of the bedroom. Rudolph and I stood between Victoria and Tony. I watched as Rudolph took Tony's hand, and then he took mine and smiled at me, then he looked at Victoria, who took a hold of my hand.

"Are you ready?" He asked, looking at me and Victoria... we nodded. Suddenly we started to float into the air, and lean forward, I looked at Victoria, who looked frightened.

"It is alright Victoria, just take a deep breath and calm yourself. Everything will be fine."

I said to her. I was fascinated that I was actually floating in the air, and even more fascinated when we took off and began flying. I was not even afraid to look down, it was amazing!

"Oh my god, this is amazing!" I exclaimed. Rudolph smiled at me and said,

"Yes, flying does have it's advantages. It is a handy way of quick travel." I laughed.

I looked down and saw that we were flying over, what looked like farm land. I felt like a bird with the wind blowing through my hair.

Ten minutes later, Rudolph landed us on, what looked like a giant blimp. We all sat down in a circle, and I looked at Rudolph and asked,

"What is this that we are sitting on?"

"I am not sure..." He looked at Tony.

"My friend, what is this, that we are on?"

"It's called a blimp, its like a giant balloon. My dad says that they are used to advertise things... whatever that means." He replied. He then stood up and started jumping around. I watched him bounce up and down on the blimp, laughing and having fun. Rudolph looked at me, stood up, and held his hand out for me to take... I knew that he wanted me to join the fun that Tony was having, so I took his hand and started to bounce around with them.

"I cannot believe that I am high up in the air like a bird, bouncing on a blimp with a vampire and my little cousin. All of this feels surreal... like I am dreaming." I said.

I looked at where Victoria was still sitting, and I saw that her knee's were curled up to her chest. Rudolph also looked at her and must have seen that she was frightened, so he stopped jumping and sat down next to her.

"Are you alright Victoria?" He asked. She didn't reply with words, she just shook her head.

"What is wrong?"

"I am terrified of heights, and being up VERY high, like we are, makes me feel sick."

He nodded, understanding what she was saying. He looked at Tony and I, who were still bouncing, and said...

"Perhaps we should go now, your friend is not feeling ill..." He said to me. I told Tony that we should stop bouncing, so we did and went to sit next to Victoria. I put my hand on her shoulder and said,

"Do you want to go home?" I asked her. Before Victoria could answer, Tony said,

"But I am having too much fun to go home now, can't we stay out longer?"

"If you two are having fun, I do not want to ruin it just because I am feeling a little bit ill. I am sure that I will be fine for a little while longer." Victoria said. Tony smiled.

"I could take you home, and then Marianne and Tony could stay out with me longer..." Rudolph suggested.

"Oh yes please... can we do that instead of us all going home, Marianne?" Tony begged. I smiled and sighed, at the same time.

"Yes, we can do that... if Rudolph does not mind bringing Victoria home, while we wait here, and then flying back to get us..." I said, looking at him. He smiled and shook his head,

"I do not mind at all..." We watched as he stood up and offered his hand to Victoria to help her up.

"Let us go then." He said. She nodded and stood up. Tony and I watched as they flew off, back in the direction towards the house.

"Rudolph is quite interesting." I said to Tony. He nodded proudly and replied,

"I know... he's really cool." I nodded with a smile.

No longer then twenty minutes later, did Rudolph return. The three of us decided just to fly around and see if there were any interesting places to go and see. - But no more then five minutes after we started to fly, did Rudolph begin to look weak. I asked him what was wrong and he said that he needed to eat, and right away I knew that he meant blood. So, we landed on a local farm and he drank from one of the cows, because apparently that is what his family had been drinking for over four centuries, to survive. It was strange to hear that, because I was always told that vampires drank human blood.

Tony thought it was cool how Rudolph drank from the cow, but I found it totally disgusting, so I decided to wait outside the barn, while he finished up. When he was done, him and Tony walked out and we continued went back up in the air again, flying over fields and talking and laughing while we did.

One hour later, Rudolph returned Tony and I to the balcony of my bedroom. Tony gave Rudolph a high five and said good night to him, then he went inside. I was about to follow him in, when Rudolph said...

"May I ask you something, Marianne?" I turned around, with a curious smile on my lips, and nodded.

"Sure..." I replied. He smiled.

"Can I come back tomorrow night and take you flying... just you?" I felt my cheeks flush because it sounded as though he was asking me on a date, and I had only just met him. I held back my giggle and smiled,

"Yes you can... but won't Tony be disappointed if you take me flying, and not him?"

"I already told him, when we were inside the barn, that I am just going to take you flying tomorrow night, and I would take all of you, together, the night after..." He said, with a smiled.

"Alright. Well, good night Rudolph. I will see you tomorrow night." He nodded, with a charming smile, and said

"Yes, until tomorrow night. Good night Marianne." I waved to him, as I turned around, and made my way inside, quietly closing the balcony door behind me, and closing it's curtains that were draped over it.

I saw that Victoria was a sleep. I sat on the edge of the bed, took of my boots, and got under the covers. I was tired and did not feel like taking my clothes off and getting back into my pyjamas, so I just fell a sleep in my clothes. When I rolled over on my other side, I saw that the clock read 3am.


	5. Chapter 4 A new friend

8 hours later. ~ 10am.

When I awoke, I saw that Victoria was not in the room, so she must be up and downstairs already. I got out of bed and went to my closet, where I pulled out a pair of jeans and my favourite, black and white, stripped t-shirt. I went in the bathroom, flat ironed my hair, put a bit of eyeliner on, and then I made my way downstairs.

"Good morning Marianne." Aunt Donna said. As I sat down, I wondered where everyone was.

"Where is everyone?"

"Your uncle Bob took Victoria and Tony to the market with him to buy some stuff for dinner tonight. I suggested that Victoria go and wake you so that you could go along with them, bit she said that you were up late last night and would want to get some rest."

I looked at her, when she said this, and knew that when Victoria told her I had been up late last night, that she meant I was out late with Rudolph and Tony.

"Oh yes, it was because I was reading my book, it was so good that I could not put it down." She smiled and nodded, as she came over and sat down with me at the table, handing me a glass of orange juice. When I finished my orange juice, I decided to go for a walk...

"Make sure to put on a jacket, it is chilly out today." I nodded, then made my way upstairs to fetch my leather coat.

After I put it on, I took my dark jean hand bag out of my suitcase, where it was still packed, and put my drawing pad and diary, along with a few other things.

Once I was out the door, I hurried to the back of the house, where my bedroom balcony was facing, and looked at the gate in front of it. I tried to remember, when we went flying last night with Rudolph, if we had went straight a head, left, or right. I just could not remember, I guess that is because I was really tired afterwards and I completely forgot.

I shrugged my shoulders, and decided just to go out the gate and keep walking until I found somewhere interesting to sit and draw.

After about twenty minutes of walking, I found a spot near a stream, where there was a large boulder that I could sit on. I took out my camera and took a pictures of the scenery I saw when I looked out in front of me. I looked at the picture and smiled, deciding to draw the scenery. Once I was sitting up on the boulder, I took out my drawing pad and a pencil, and began to draw. After I was completely done the drawing, I looked at my watch and saw that I had been sitting here drawing for one hour and thirty minutes.

I figured I should get back home or aunt Donna would be wondering where I was. I put my drawing pad back in the hang bag, swung it over my shoulders, and then made my way back to the house.

When I got inside, I went into the living area of the house and saw aunt Donna and uncle Bob entertaining a man and a woman. Aunt Donna saw me and said,

"Marianne, you were out for a long walk..." I smiled.

"I found a place to sit, and I decided to draw the scenery in front of me... I am sorry that I was out long."

"Oh no my dear, you were not out long at all. Can I see the drawing?" She asked. I walked into the living area and opened up the drawing page to where the drawing was. She smiled,

"Oh my, this is very well done Marianne. I did not know you could draw like this..."

"Well my mother was an artist, that is where I get it from." She nodded and showed uncle Bob, who also really liked it.

When I got upstairs, to my room, Victoria had her head phones on because she was watching a movie on her portable DVD player. I sat down on my side of the bed and she looked at me and took the head phones off.

"Hey, where were you gone off too?" She asked.

"I was out for a walk and decided to sit and draw." She smiled and nodded.

"So, what were you and Rudolph saying to each other when he brought you and Tony back last night?" I looked at her, and wondered how she even knew that, since I thought that she had been a sleep.

"I thought you were sleeping when he brought us home?" She laughed and shook her head.

"Well I was falling a sleep, but I could still hear everything."

"He asked me if he could take me flying alone tonight... just me and him."

I replied.

"He asked you on a date?" Her tone seemed surprised, and that made me laugh.

"Well, I doubt it is a date. He is a vampire, probably centuries old, I do not think he knows what a date is."

"Oh please, I am sure he has learned some things from us mortals if he has been alive for as long as you think." She said. I shrugged.

"I have no idea, but I did accept, so tonight we are going flying together. I am nervous though, I only just met this boy..." I paused and thought whether or not I should call him a boy... or should I call him a vampire. I corrected myself,

"This vampire boy, and I do not know if he is actually nice or dangerous." I finished. Victoria laughed because I had paused in the middle of my sentence to correct myself.

"Yes, but I thought that he was psycho last night, until you told me that you saw truth in his eyes when he said that he would not let you fall, so he must be nice." She replied with a smile. I nodded, knowing she was right.

"Well then, I will try not to be nervous... but it is not easy." She put her hand on my shoulder and shook her head,

"Nothing ever is easy in life."

That night, by nine o'clock, uncle Bob, aunt Donna, and Tony, were all sleep... and Victoria was still awake with me. Rudolph still had not come to fetch me to go flying with him, so I figured that he would come later. I decided to get a small bit of sleep, before he arrived.

"I am going to sleep until Rudolph arrives to take me flying." I said to Victoria, as I rolled over on my side to face her.

"Alright, well I am going to finish my movie then I also going to sleep." She replied. I nodded and turned off my night stand lamp. I closed my eyes and was a sleep within twenty minutes.

Two hours later ~ 11 o'clock.

"Marianne..." Rudolph whispered in my ear, as I was fast a sleep.

I was dreaming that it was a warm and sunny day, and I was sitting on a large cliff looking out at the horizon, with the ocean bellow. There was a gentle and cool breeze that was brushing through my hair.

"Wake up Marianne." Rudolph whispered.

My dream faded away and my eyes slowly opened. I saw Rudolph kneeled next to my side of the bed. He startled me for a minute, until I realized who it was.

"Rudolph, you scared me." I whispered, as I sat up.

"I am sorry. Did you still want to go flying with me?" He asked.

"Yes, but I have to get dressed first." He nodded. I got out of bed and walked a cross the cold wooden floor, to my laundry basket.

I thought to myself that if there were a human guy standing in the same room that I was getting changed in, I would shoo him out or tell him to turn around and not look, but for some reason I did not care if Rudolph saw me changing. Probably because I knew he had been a live for centuries and I am sure that he had seen many nude girls my age (or older) in his time, and was used to it. In his days, for example, the 17th century, boys his age saw nude women at young ages because of the brothels in many cities and because some were married young.

I was turned, facing my closet, and pulled off my tank top, and was now topless. I looked over my shoulder, and saw Rudolph watching me, but I did not say anything. I smirked to myself, and slid on my hoodie because it was cold. Then, I slid off my shorts and put on a warm pair of long and fuzzy pyjama bottoms, along with a pair of socks and my flat ankle boots.

I turned back around and smiled,

"I am ready to go." Rudolph walked over to me, smiling, and said,

"Why you did not ask me to turn around or leave the room, while you put on different clothes?" Inside of me, I started laughing because I knew he was going to ask me that. I smiled and shrugged my shoulders,

"I do not know, it just did not bother me that you were watching." He nodded, and walked over to the window and stepped out onto the balcony with me.

I took his hand, when he offered it to me, and then I shut my eyes as we jumped off the balcony together and began to fly.

"You can open your eyes now." Rudolph said to me. I opened my eyes.

"Wow! It must be exciting to be a vampire..."

"The curse has it's moments that make it exciting, but it is also very lonely and difficult."

"Why is that?"

"Well, if you think of how we are hunted all the time, and we cannot drink human blood, as vampires are supposed to, because it would make us vulnerable to being found."

"Alright, yes, I understand that. And why is it lonely?"

"Alright, it used to be lonely for me, but now I have new friends, and I like them all a lot."

He smiled at me and winked.

"Good to know. But we only just met and already you like Tony, Victoria, and I?" I asked.

"Of course. All vampires can quickly sense, about someone, if they can trust them or not... and if they like someone."

"Do your parents know yet that you're friend with humans?" He slyly smiled and shook his head, as though he found it amusing that his parents had no idea that he was friends with three humans. I wondered, to myself, if it was a good thing or a bad thing that we were friends with him.

We landed down in the farmers field, where Rudolph had drank cows blood on the first night I met him. When we landed, he let go of my hand, and said,

"I want to show you something, but first I must eat." I nodded and replied,

"Alright. I will wait out here because I find it gross when you eat." He laughed.

"I understand. It is not pleasant for mortals, as it is for vampires." I shook my head, with a strange look on my face, which made him laugh again, then I started to. When he went inside the barn to eat, I heard a noise that sounded like a large vehicle was approaching. I went to the side of the road and look to my right, where I saw a vehicle with really bright lights shining.

I do not know why I did not move out of the way, as it got closer, but something kept me standing there, looking at it.

When the vehicle got close to me, it made a loud noise, because it had stopped. I watched as a man got out and when he came into my view, I saw that he was scruffy and scary looking...

he was also holding a gun, which looked like the one that Van Helsing was holding, when hunting vampires.

"Well aren't you a sweet thing. I did not vampires were this pretty." I made a disgusted face because this man was talking like a pervert.

"So, the lights do not bother you, eh?" The man asked me.

"Well why should they, besides hurting my eyes because they are far too bright, they do not do anything to me." I replied. The man started to laugh,

"A blood sucker from England, who is hiding in Scotland... how interesting." Before I could say that I was not a blood sucker (which I knew meant vampire), he got back into his truck and started to drive towards me. I suddenly froze there, in fear, and when the truck got really close to me, I screamed and closed my eyes as it was inches away from hitting me.

Suddenly, I was picked up off the ground, away from the lights.

When I opened my eyes, I was up in the air, holding onto Rudolph's hand.

"You mortals are crazy, why did you not move, Rookery was about to kill you!" Rudolph asked, in a tone, that sounded like he was concerned.

I just started to laugh, for no reason. I could feel the adrenaline rush through me, and it felt good.

"I do not find that funny." He said.

"Oh Rudolph, do not be so serious." He frowned and did not say anything. It went silent between us for a few minutes, before I finally said,

"I did not move out of the way because I was scared, I was frozen there in fear. It is a good thing you were there to save my life. Thank you." He looked at me, with a small smile on his lips.

"I guess that means we are truly friends now, seeing as you just saved my life..." I said.

"Yes, we are truly friends now." He replied, with a wide smile.

"So, do you have any powers?" I asked, curiously. Rudolph laughed and then replied,

"Yes, I do. I can heal other vampires, if they are too weak, after being hurt, to heal themselves..."

"That is so cool!" I smiled widely.

"And, I can hypnotize animals and humans... but it is not my own gift, all vampires can do it."

"I wish I could heal the living."

"Why?" He asked, with a smile.

"Because then I could have healed my mum and dad, after they suffered severe injuries, which is what killed them... they did not die instantly, after being in the car accident. I went to see them in the hospital, after the accident, and then the next morning I was told that they both died over night." Rudolph's smile faded.

"That is terrible... to lose your mother and father that way."

"But I have my uncle Bob and aunt Donna now, and I know that they will take of me until I finish school and leave Scotland."

"When are you leaving Scotland?"

"Only in four years, when I am nineteen years old. I am moving back to London so that I can attend college."

"Well, I will be human by then and if we are still friends, then I will come with you. I have always wanted to go back to London."

"Were you born in London?"

"No. I was born in Germany, in 1601, but my family moved to London when I was two years old. My mother, father, brother, and I were all turned into vampires when I was fifteen, in the year 1616. Only two years later, my mother found my sister Anna, abandoned and dying, in an ally way, in London... she was only ten years old. My mother had always wanted a daughter, so to save Anna, she turned her and made her part of our family."

"Wow! Do you have any other stories to tell?" I asked, jokingly, because he seemed to have one, every time we speak.

"I have many, but they are all to be told in due time... not now."

"Why not?" I asked, sort of disappointed. He smiled,

"Because each story will be told, as the subject for it comes up in future conversations."

"But how do you know that the appropriate subject, to tell each story, will come up in conversations, in the future?" He started to laugh.

"What is so funny?" I asked.

"You ask far too many questions, Marianne."

"I cannot help myself, I am just a very curious girl."

"Yes, I have figured that out, but it is alright, because it does not bother me."

"Good. So, can I ask you another question?" I asked, jokingly.

"You just did." He replied, with a sly smirk.

"Hey that is not funny... I am serious." I said, while laughing at the same time.

"Yes, because you sound very serious, at the moment." He said, sarcastically. I glared at him, and he laughed, which made me start to laugh also.


	6. Chapter 5 The stone

Two days later. ~ June 21st.

Rudolph had slept over the night before, and since he could not be exposed to the sun during the day, he slept in Tony's room in his treasure chest (as Rudolph called it). Tony slid it into his closet because there were small holes on the chest that the light could shine through.

Victoria and I walked into Tony's room, to see what he was doing, and I did not see him anywhere. Then, I heard his voice coning from the closet and Victoria giggled because Tony was sitting in there so that he could talk to Rudolph. I went to the closet and said,

"Tony, are you in there?"

"Yeah. Me and Rudolph are talking while I draw."

"Can Victoria and I come in and sit with you?" I asked.

"Yeah you can."

I opened the closet door and Victoria and I quickly slipped in and closed the door, so that the sun did not get in. I sat next to Tony and Victoria sat next to me. I looked down at the ground where Tony had a flash light on so that he could see while he was drawing. I looked at one of the drawings and saw that it was some sort of red stone, like a ruby, and it was well drawn for a ten year old boy.

"Tony, this drawing is very good, what is it?" He shrugged his shoulders and replied,

"Oh that's the stone of Atimore." Before I could say anything, Rudolph said, from inside

the chest,

"The stone of Atimore? Tony where have you seen this stone?"

"I saw it in my dreams."

"So, you have not actually seen it..." He said, with a sigh.

"What else did you see in these dreams?" He asked. Victoria and I just listened.

"The first dream I had, after moving into this house, is the one that I first saw the stone in.

I was floating on the ocean, in my bed, and a vampire dived off a cliff and right for me." Tony explained.

"What did the vampire look like?"

"Um he was really scary, and he had blond hair." Tony replied.

"Then the vampire you saw was my uncle Von." Rudolph said. I could not help it, I had to ask,

"So, what does all of this mean... Tony's dreams, this stone...?"

"The stone of Atimore got it's name from the Comet Atimore, which is the comet of the lost souls. Five hundred years ago, a piece of it fell to earth and a great magician made it into an amulet. In Tony's dream, when he saw my uncle Von diving for him, he was diving into the ocean to try and get the stone." Rudolph explained. This was all so interesting to hear, and I wanted to hear more, so I asked,

"But why was he diving for it?"

"We were all gathered on the cliff and about to take part in the ritual, in which my father stands, holding the stone up at the sky, pointing to the comet. The point of the ritual was because when it is completed, all the vampires gathered will be freed of immortality and become human. Before the ritual could be completed, the vampire hunters interrupted us, and tried to take the stone away, because if mortals used it in a different ritual, it could give them great power. When one of the hunters was trying to take the stone out of my fathers hand, it broke off from it's chain and went over the cliff. My uncle Von tried to catch it, and we have not seen him since that night."

I was amazed at this story, and now I had a million questions to ask, but I stopped myself from asking anymore, because I did not want to ask Rudolph with too many.

"We will help you find the stone. If it means that your family needs to complete the ritual, and become human..." Victoria said. I was surprised that she had just offered to help Rudolph, I guess the whole vampire thing was beginning to interest her.

The lid of Tony's treasure chest opened slightly and Rudolph peaked out. We looked at him and he smiled,

"Are you sure you want to help, it could be dangerous?" He asked. Tony, Victoria, and I looked at each other and smiled. We nodded, in unison.

"We don't care if it's dangerous, Rudolph. We are all friends, and friends help each other when they need to... no matter what the risk is." I replied.

"Marianne is right. And anyways, this sounds like an adventure and truthfully, I have always wanted to go on an adventure." Victoria said. The four of us laughed, and then went back to talking. Rudolph told us a bit more about the comet and what he wanted to do after the curse is broken.

Later on ~ Night time.

After everyone was a sleep, I got up and went to sit at the window seat. Victoria was snoring and I could not help but laugh. I sat, with my head leaning against the window, looking up at the stars. I had long pyjama bottoms on, along with a long sleeve pyjama shirt, slippers, and my bath robe, because it was cold with the balcony door window open.

I was sitting there for about twenty-minutes, when I heard...

"Hello Marianne." The voice startled me at first, until I looked to the balcony door and saw Rudolph standing there. I smiled and whispered,

"Rudolph... what are you doing here?" He approached me and sat down, in the space, on the window seat, that was not taken by my feet. He leaned up against the wall and smiled.

"It is late for mortals, why are you still awake?" He asked.

"I do not know, I just could not sleep for some reason. I was thinking about a lot of things."

He leaned forward a bit, and asked,

"Like what?"

"I was thinking about my mum and dad, and how I wish they... were here." My voice was beginning to quiver, as it always had done when I spoke about mum and dad, since the day they died. I swallowed to try and hold back the tears, because I did not want to start crying in front of Rudolph. I could tell that he could see that I was sad, because he took my hand into his and said,

"You do not have to tell me anything, if it makes you sad, Marianne."

"No, it is alright. I just..." I could not hold them back, I just let my tears fall and I began to cry. Rudolph stood up and kneeled down at my side, and embraced me.

"Please do not be sad Marianne." I parted from his embrace and whipped a few of my tears away, as I looked into his eyes. Slowly a smile appeared on both our faces.

"I am so sorry, normally I would not cry in front of anyone. The only one I could really cry in front of was my mum and now it is difficult to cry in front of anyone else." I said.

"I understand. But do not be afraid nor embarassed to shed tears in front of me, because the only thing I will do is try my best to make you smile and to whip away those tears." He replied as he placed his hand on my cheek and used his thumb to gently whip away the last few tears that rolled down my cheek. I smiled widely and embraced him again, whispering in his ear,

"Thank you Rudolph."

"For what?" He asked, looking slightly confused. I giggled, at his confused tone of voice, and replied,

"For making me smile amongst my sadness and tears."

"Oh... alright. I am glad that you feel better now."

I watched as he stood up and looked out the window.

"I must take my leave now. You should go to sleep now." He said. I nodded and stood up, walking over to the balcony door, with him. He said nothing else before he left, he just went out the door and flew off the balcony, into the night sky.

I felt tired enough to go to sleep now, so I got under the warm covers and and sure enough I fell a sleep within ten minutes.


	7. Chapter 6 More of the immortal

Two days later. - June 23rd.

Aunt Donna had the day off from work today, so she took Victoria, Tony, and I into town to do some shopping for our first day of school, which was in two weeks. Tony was starting the grade five, Victoria was starting grade ten, and I would be starting grade nine.

***Marianne's outfit.***

***Victoria's outfit.***

"Are you girls excited to start school and make new friends?" Aunt Donna asked Victoria and I, while we were looking through a rack of clothing, in one of the stores.

"Yeah, I suppose." I replied, shrugging my shoulders.

"Sort of." Victoria said.

"Oh come on girls, you will like it at you new school, and besides at least you have each other."

"True, but I have always dreaded going to a new school... I never thought I would have to until I finished high school and went to college." I said.

"I know it's not easy switching schools at your age. I understand more then you think." Aunt Donna said, with a smile.

"How?" Victoria asked.

"When I was your age, Victoria, my mother married her second husband, who was British, like her third. I had to move with her to London, where I only lived until I was nineteen, then I moved back to San-Diego, my home town, to go to college. That same year, my mother married for a third time, to another British man, who's only child, was Marianne's father."

I smiled when she finished telling that to Victoria.

"Wow. So, who is your mother married to now?"

"Well, to my surprise, even to this day, she stayed with her third husband, and they are still together." She replied.

"Aw that is sweet. At least she did not marry a fourth time because that is a lot of times to get married." Victoria said. The three of us laughed.

Tony sat at the seat, near the clothing store window, and looked really bored. Aunt Donna payed for our stuff and then we went to buy school supplies. I knew why Tony was bored and wanted to hurry and go back home... it was because we were going flying with Rudolph tonight and he was excited, he wanted night time to come quickly.

Night time.

Uncle Bob and aunt Donna were going to a party tonight that was being hosted by Lord McAshton, which was uncle Bob's boss.

Tony was sitting in the room with Victoria and I, and we were talking about vampires, and Rudolph.

"What are you three talking about?" Aunt Donna asked as she walked in the room, wearing a long black sequined dress, which sparkled.

"Wow aunt Donna, you look very nice." I said, with a smile.

"Thank you Marianne." She replied. Then she looked at Tony and said,

"I did not hire a babysitter because I trust Marianne and Victoria to look after you, so I want you to behave and listen to them." Tony nodded.

"Ok mom, but can I stay up late tonight?" Aunt Donna looked at Victoria and I, to see if we minded, and we both shook our heads and smiled, letting her know that we did not mind if Tony stayed up late with us.

"Alright you can, but I want you in bed no later then eleven."

"We will make sure he is in bed and a sleep by eleven, aunt Donna." I said.

"Good. You three have fun. If Bob and I are not home by the time you two go to bed, just make sure to lock the front and back door before you go to sleep... I have a key to get in."

"Alright. Have a fun time." I replied. When she left the room and closed the door, we went back to our conversation. Tony wanted to watch a movie, so Victoria put one on her portable DVD player, that he chose. As we sat watching it, I heard a weird noise come from outside I went to the open window and peaked out, but I saw nothing. I shrugged my shoulders and went back to watching the movie.

Twenty-minutes later, there was a sudden noise that sounded like something came into the room, from the window. Tony sat up quickly and looked scared, he hid behind me and Victoria pressed pause on the DVD player.

"I suppose you two heard that noise also?" I asked, looking around the room.

"Yeah we did." Tony replied. Suddenly, a bat flew past us and the three of us screamed at the same time, ducking our heads. We heard it crash into the fire place.

"It must have come in through the window... but are there even bats that live in Scotland?"

Victoria questioned.

"Of course there are, there are bats in just about every country." I replied, as I stood up off the bed.

"Marianne, don't go over there." Tony whispered.

"It is fine Tony, just stay on the bed." Victoria handed me the flash light that she kept in the drawer of her night stand. I turned it on and directed the light into the fire place. I squinted and it looked like it was a person, not a bat. I moved closer to it and then it hissed really loud, covering it's eyes. I screamed again and dropped the flash light. It crawled out of the fire place.

"My goodness Marianne, did you have to shine that light directly on me?" Before I could say anything, Victoria and Tony started to laugh loudly. I looked at them and said,

"What is so funny?" Victoria pointed, and I looked to see that the person was Rudolph. He stood in front of me with his arms crossed, grinning.

"I can't believe how scared you were!" Tony said, him and Victoria still laughing. I looked at them, then back at Rudolph, who was trying to hold back his laugh.

"Did you two know it was him all this time!"

"Yeah we did. When you were at the bathroom, before we watched the movie, he came to the window and we planned to scare you." Victoria told me.

"Oh my god that is so not funny! I really was scared... I thought it was a bat and I hate bats, they are disgusting!" Tony and Victoria heard the frustration in my tone, so they stopped laughing.

"But it was a bat... it was me. That is how I normally fly around at night." Rudolph said.

"Oh... I see. Well then I take that back, and I will say that not all bats are disgusting... only the ones that don't turn into people."

"Which is all of them, except vampires." He said, as he went to Tony and gave him a high five.

"Hey dude." Rudolph said to him. Tony smiled and replied,

"Hey."

"Tonight you three will meet my family."

"Cool." Tony said. Victoria and I looked at each other, and then I said,

"But will they not try to kill us, or are they all like you?"

"Do not worry, they will not harm any of you because they only drink cows blood, like I do."

The three of us nodded. We went onto the balcony and took off into the air, with Rudolph. I noticed that there were stars filling the entire sky. I felt as though I was so close to them that I could reach up and touch one.

"What a beautiful night, there are stars filling the sky." Victoria said.

"Yes, I agree, very beautiful." Rudolph said, as he looked at me. I was hanging onto his left hand, so I was right next to him. I looked at him and returned the smile, I blushed slightly because when he said ''very beautiful'', he looked at me.

"There it is, my home." Rudolph pointed bellow, to the cemetery.

"Eww you live in a cemetery with all those dead people?" Victoria asked, with a grossed out expression.

"Why not, we are dead like all of them, except we walked, talk, and breath the air... like mortals do..."

"That is true, but I do not like cemetery's, they freak me out."

"Do not worry Victoria, the dead mortals will not come back to life and harm you... if that is what you are afraid of..." Rudolph replied. Tony and I laughed.

"Oh Victoria, there is no such thing as dead mortals who come back to life."

"They are called zombies." Tony said.

"Or living dead walkers." Victoria added. I looked at her strangely and said,

"I have never heard that name for zombies..."

"Of course not, because I just made it up now." She giggled.

Rudolph landed us on the ground of the cemetery. He let go of Tony's hand, but must have forgotten to let go of mine, while he looked around... probably looking to see if his parents were around.

"Rudolph..."

"Yes..." He replied, looking at me.

"Can I have my hand back?" He looked down at our hands and looked back up at me, smiling. He shook his head.

"No you can not, I want to hold it." I lifted an eyebrow at him.

"Why?" I asked.

"Ah, and here it starts again... more questions Marianne?" He said, sarcastically.

"Alright, listen here Rudolph, I already told you I ask to many questions because I am a very curious girl, so you have to deal with it, if we are going to stay friends." I tried to sound a bit serious, but instead I could not help but giggle in between words because he kept looking at me and lifting his eyebrows, one at a time, over and over again. Victoria and Tony stood there, watching, and laughing, at the same time.

I crossed my arms and said to him,

"Rudolph, I am trying to be serious, and you keep making me laugh."

"What is wrong with making me you laugh... I like your laugh."

Now that there, what he said, made me blush, and he could see that it did because a smirk crossed his lips. How sweet I thought it was that he said that to me.

"Oh Rudolph, you're sweet." I said, as I turned to Victoria and stood next to her.

"As are you, Marianne." He said, as he turned around and began to walk towards the large mausoleum. He motioned us, with his hand, to follow close behind him.

Suddenly the four of us stopped because we heard bat noises, like the one I heard when Rudolph flew into my room. Rudolph looked up into the sky and then turned back to us and quickly said,

"My parents are coming, hurry you must hide!"

"Why, I thought we were here to meet them?" I asked.

"Yes, but you must hide until I tell them about you, or they will think you are dinner."

"But I thought you and your family do not drink human blood..." I asked again.

"Marianne, just go and hide... hurry!" He repeated. I quickly scurried behind the large tomb stone, where Tony and Victoria were hiding. I peaked out from the side of it and watched as Rudolph went to his parents and embraced his mother. We listened to them talk,

"Rudolph, where have you been... we have been looking everywhere for you?" His father asked sternly.

"I am sorry father, I was having my dinner." He lied. Before his father could say anything, I heard a girls voice come from the tomb stone near him.

"Rudolph!"

Rudolph turned around and smiled, as he went to the tomb stone and embraced his sister.

"Hello Anna."

"You're the nervy one, sneaking off like some day walker." I covered my mouth and ever-so-quietly giggled.

"I wish." He replied. Then he turned to his father,

"So, father did you find the stone?"

"Not yet, but I am sure that we are on the right path... I will find it, I will not fail you." His father was creepy looking, and stern when he spoke.

"Well, I found some help..."

"Help? What kind of help?" His mother questioned. Rudolph turned to the tomb stone that we were on.

"You guys can come out from hiding now." He said. Tony took my hand and we walked out from behind the tomb stone to show ourselves... but Victoria stayed where she was. No even a second before I was going to turn around and tell her to follow, I heard her scream. Tony and I turned around quickly and saw her backing out from behind the tomb stone, with another vampire walking after her. What made Rudolph, Tony, and I laugh was that at first Victoria was freaked out but then suddenly she stopped backing up and crossed her arms, the fear suddenly gone off her face.

"I am not afraid of you, because I know that you are Rudolph's brother and he said that his family does not drink human blood." She said. Rudolph came to my side and made sure his brother did not harm Victoria, which made me smile. His brother lifted an eyebrow and said,

"Oh, and I suppose Rudolph did not tell you that I will drink human blood if I find the scent of it irresistible. I will not hold back just because the rest of my family will not feast on it."

"Gregory stop trying to frighten her, she is my friend." That made him laugh.

"My son, you cannot have mortal friends, they cannot be trusted." His father said.

"My dear, I do not see any harm in Rudolph having friends. If he does not have mortal friends, then he would not have any, because there are no vampire children in these parts." Rudolph's mother said.

"He does not need friends, he has Gregory and Anna."

"But father, I need different friends. Anna and Gregory are my family, it is not the same as having friends who are not." Rudolph said. His father looked at us and glared, but then his glare went away and he sighed.

"Very well then, you may be friends with them. But if they betray you in any way, they will pay for it."

Rudolph turned and smiled at us, then I went up behind him and stood next to him. I looked at his sister, Anna, who jumped off the tomb stone and approached me.

"Hello, my name is Anna... what is yours?" I smiled and replied,

"It is nice to meet you Anna, my name is Marianne."

"That is a pretty name." She said, smiling. I saw her shining white fangs when she smiled, they were pure white with not a single stain on them. They glistened in the moon light.


	8. Chapter 7 Near death experience

June 27th – 10pm.

For the past four days, we had been on the search for the stone, but so far, no luck. Rudolph wanted to show us the cliff that the ceremony was to take place on the 29th. None of us gave up hope because we still had two days until the ceremony, but Rudolph's father was becoming impatient.

The four of us sat on the ground, on the cliff, together, talking and having a nice time. Rudolph was telling us his memories, when he was a human, and about how life was back in the centuries that he has lived through.

"How old were girls when they got married, in the eighteenth century?" Victoria asked him.

"Well, if I remember correctly, if they were royalty they were married off to the man that was chosen by their family, anywhere between the age of thirteen and sixteen." He replied. Victoria looked shocked.

"Bloody hell, that is young to be married. People, in that time, were crazy!" We laughed at Victoria's tone of voice when she said that, because at times, she could be a drama queen.

"Were you ever in love before being turned into a vampire?" I asked. He chuckled and shook his head.

"No. I never had the time to fall in love. My family was always moving to different countries and cities, so I never had time to fall in love, or make any friends."

Suddenly, just as Tony was about to say something, we heard a noise come from the bushes behind us. Rudolph stood up and looked around,

"What is it Rudolph?" Tony said.

"Tony watch out!" Rudolph yelled as a man appeared behind Tony, holding up a large machine, which looked like a gun. I stood up and pulled Tony and Victoria away from the man, as he approached Rudolph, who hissed telling him to back off. He held up the gun to Rudolph and said,

"Let's see you escape from me now, you blood sucker!" Just before the man could shoot, whatever it was he had in the gun, at Rudolph, I leaped in front of him and knocked him to the ground, onto his back. I lay on top of him, looking into his eyes. Rudolph smiled and said,

"You saved my life..." Just before I could smile in return, I heard Tony shout,

"Marianne, watch out!" Before I could move, I felt a sharp pain shoot through my entire body.

I turned my head slowly and looked at the man, who was looking at me, with his gun held up.

I looked back at Rudolph, before falling off of him and onto my side.

"NO!" I heard Victoria yell, as she and Tony ran over and kneeled down next to me. Rudolph lay my head up on his lap, and looked at the wooden stake in my back.

Victoria looked at Rudolph with many tears streaming down her cheeks, and said,

"You have to turn her... please, you have to, or she will die!" Rudolph shook his head.

"I cannot put upon her the curse of being a vampire, I would not do that to her."

"But you cannot let her die Rudolph! Please, do not let her die... you have to turn her!" Victoria begged. Rudolph looked at Tony, who's eyes were also filled with tears. Rudolph closed his eyes and shook his head, not knowing what to do.

"Rudolph..." I managed to whisper. His eyes shot open and he looked at me.

"Yes, Marianne?"

"Your power... to..." I paused and swallowed, my breathing slowing down more and more, I could feel myself dying.

"To heal..." I finished. Victoria looked at Rudolph and said,

"If you have the power to heal, then why are you not healing her!" I could hear the frustration in her voice, mixed with the whimpers of tears.

"But it only works to heal vampires..." Rudolph replied.

"Try Rudolph... just try." She begged. Rudolph looked at the wound on my back and nodded. Gently, he placed his finger tips on the edges of my wound, around the wooden stake, and closed his eyes. Tony and Victoria watched as a light lit up the wound, and before their eyes, the wooden stake disappeared into thin air. I slipped into what seemed to be a coma... but my pain suddenly went away and I felt peaceful.

When it was over, Rudolph opened his eyes, and everything was silent. Victoria felt my pulse and it was gone, she began shaking her head continuously, and repeating the word 'No' out loud. They all thought that it did not work and that I had died, but suddenly my eyes shot open and I took one large gasp for air. They looked at me, and smiled in relief.

"Marianne, you're alive!" Victoria said, as she embraced me. Then, Rudolph took my hand into his, and I looked at him, as two tears slipped down my cheeks.

"You brought me back to life... you saved me." Rudolph nodded and replied,

"Yes, and I will continue to save your life whenever you're in danger because I care about you too much, to not." I smiled widely. I was no longer in pain and when I asked Victoria to tell me if the wound was still on my back, she did not see a single scratch.

Rudolph had saved my life. I would have died if he had not been there, and I was very thankful for what he did. I was a little shaken up, as Rudolph flew us back to the house, but as soon as we landed, and Tony went inside with Victoria, Rudolph turned to me and said,

"I am glad that you're alright, and that I was able to save you. I do not know what I would have done if I had lost you, Marianne."

"Well, I am very thankful, and I do not think I could ever repay you for what you did."

I replied.

"There is no need to repay me in any way." I stepped closer to him. He smiled and took my left hand into his and kissed it charmingly.

"Actually, there is one thing I would like to give you, to thank you for what you did..." I said, stepping even closer to him.

"There is?" He asked, slightly tilting his head, curious as to what it was. I suddenly got this urge inside of me, I wanted to kiss his lips. Slowly, I wrapped my arms around his neck, and pressed my lips to his. I felt his entire body tense up, most likely because of the scent of my blood being as close as it could be to him. I was not frightened or embrassed at what I was doing. Within seconds after pressing my lips to his, I felt his body relax, and he started kissing me right back. I could feel that he was enjoying the kiss as much as I was.

When we parted, my dimples were as high as they could go, and I could not stop smiling so widely. Rudolph smirked and embraced me. He whispered in my ear,

"Good night Marianne."

"Good night Rudolph, and thank you again... so much." He nodded, as I let go of his hand and went inside, closing the balcony door behind me. Victoria stood up from the bed, and just looked at me. I smiled widely, which made her start to smile as well.

"We kissed." Is all that I could say. Victoria squealed, and embraced me tightly.

"Oh my goodness, I cannot believe you kissed? So obviously you and Rudolph really like each other... but are you not the least bit scared because he is a vampire?" I smiled and shook my head, as I sat with her on the bed.

"I am not the least bit frightened. He is harmless and competely charming and sweet."

"You're the bravest person I know, Marianne. You do not even look the least bit weakened or frightned by your near death experience." Victoria said.

"I know, I do not even know why I am not, because I should be. But kissing Rudolph helped me calm down quite a bit."

"It scared me SO much when I thought that I lost my best friend... I do not know what I woud do without you here with me." She said to me with a smile. I returned the smile and embraced her again.

"Best friends..." I said holding up my hand as though I was about to arm wrestle with her, but this was actually our best friend thing that we made up. Victoria put her hand to mine and slightly tightened her grip on my hand.

"Forever." She finished.


	9. Chapter 8 The vision

June 28th. - 7pm.

Aunt Donna and uncle Bob had a couple, who were our new neighbours, over for dinner. After dinner, Tony, Victoria, and I went upstairs while they entertained their company downstairs.

I sighed, as I fell onto the bed, on my back.

"I'm bored..." Tony said. I nodded in agreement.

"So am I, but what can we do. We cannot sneak out to see Rudolph because aunt Donna and uncle Bob are still awake." Victoria shrugged her shoulders.

"I wish Rudolph would come here and just hang out with us..." Tony said. The three of us sat there in silence for almost five minutes, when there was a knock on the balcony door. I sat up quickly and looked at the balcony door, where I saw Rudolph standing there. I smiled,

"You got your wish Tony, Rudolph is here." I said, as I went to the door and opened it. Rudolph smiled and came in, as I closed the door behind him.

"I hope it is alright if I am here..." He said.

"Yes it is fine, as long as uncle Bob and aunt Donna do not see you." I replied.

The four of us sat down on the bed and started talking. About twenty-minutes into our conversation about random subjects, Tony just suddenly stopped talking and stared blankly at the wall, and he began to shake. I became worried,

"Tony, are you alright?" Rudolph asked. He would not answer either of us, for about sixty seconds. When he stopped staring blankly at the wall, he closed his eyes and reopened them.

"Woaahhh..." Is all he said.

"What is it Tony, what just happened?" I asked.

"I just had a vision..." He replied. Rudolph's eyes widened a little.

"What was the vision?" He asked.

"I saw a woman walk into a cave, and there was a man on laying on the ground. The woman covered the man with a cloak, which had a crest on it. The man was a vampire."

"What did he look like?" Rudolph asked.

"Blond hair, pale face, green eyes..." Tony replied. Rudolph half smiled and looked as though he was happy to hear that.

"Does that mean something Rudolph?" Victoria asked.

"Yes it does. The vampire that Tony saw in his vision was my uncle Von... I am sure of it."

"Well if you are sure that it was your uncle, then who was the woman?" I asked.

"I do not know, it could have been anyone." He replied.

"If there was a crest on the cloak that she put over Von, then it must have been a family crest.

All we have to do is trace the crest to find the family in which it belongs to." I said.

"Yes, we must, but how are we going to do that?" Rudolph questioned.

"My dad knows a lot about crest's, I could ask him." Tony suggested.

"Excellent... that would help a lot, my friend. When can you ask him?"

"I can go and ask him now..."

"Good. We will wait here for you, because if he can tell you right away, then we must go and tell my father." Tony nodded and smiled, as he went out of the room and went downstairs to ask uncle Bob about the crest.

Not even two minutes later, he ran upstairs and into the room, with a wide smile on his lips, and he was holding a piece of paper.

"I know which family the crest belongs to! I didn't even have to ask my dad, because when I was going into the living room to ask, I saw this paper on the table, and this is the crest I saw in my vision. It belongs to the McAshton family, which is the family of my father's boss, Lord McAshton. The stone must be at his house." Tony explained. Rudolph smiled and stood up off the bed.

"This is good news Tony, thank you. We must find a way to go and search the house." He said.

"Tony can go to work with him tomorrow and find a way to search the rooms." I said.

Before either of them could reply, we suddenly we heard foot steps coming towards the door.

I looked at Rudolph and whispered,

"You have to hide!" He quickly jumped up into the corner of the ceiling, where he hid. As long as uncle Bob or aunt Donna did not look up at the ceiling, he would not be seen. Tony, Victoria, and I just sat on the bed and started to talk about something random. When they came in, aunt Donna said.

"Our guests have invited us to go out with them for a drink, so I trust you three to behave and I want Tony in bed no later then nine..." Victoria and I nodded.

"Yes, aunt Donna. Have fun." I replied, with a smile. When they left the room, Rudolph jumped down from the ceiling corner, and said,

"Are you three coming with me to tell my father where we think the stone is?" He asked.

"Of course we are, after all, we are part of this now... since we are helping you." I replied.

"Good. Now let us go."

We all flew, with Rudolph, to the cemetery where he lived, and saw that Frederick, Freda, Anna, and Gregory were sleeping. Rudolph woke them up, and we told them about Tony's vision and how the crest that he saw in the vision is the McAshton family crest. He was happy to hear this and when we told him that Tony offered to be the one to go to work with uncle Bob to search the Lord McAshton's house for the stone, he thanked Tony with a smile.

"Your young friend can go look for the stone, but he must be careful, because I have a feeling rookery will also be searching for it." Frederick said.

"Who is Rookery?" I asked. Rudolph looked at me and replied,

"He is the vampire hunter who almost killed you last night." My eyes widened as I thought about Tony going to the McAshton house and this man, Rookery, being there and possibly harming him.

"Then I do not want Tony going to the McAshton house, what if Rookery tries to harm him...

I can not let that happen..." I said to Rudolph.

"I have something that will keep Tony safe." Rudolph's sister, Anna, said. She stepped to Tony and took something from her purse pocket. It was wrapped in cloth, which looked very old.

"You must take this Tony dearest and always keep it with you. If ever you are in danger and need our help, just hold this in your hands and whistle... we will hear you and come to your rescue." He nodded.

"Do you know how to whistle?" She asked him, as he took the thing into his hand and unwrapped it.

"Ew it's a dead mouse." He said. I held back my laugh and said to him,

"Oh Tony, just take it and do as she says." I said to him. Anna smiled and said to him,

"It is from the old country, and it will bring you luck."

"Thank you Anna." Tony said.


	10. Chapter 9 Searching

June 29th.

Tony went to work with uncle Bob in the morning to see if the stone was anywhere to be found in the McAshton mansion. While he was there, Victoria and I went to the cemetery, where Rudolph and his family slept. When we entered their home, under the ground, we saw the four of them hanging upside down, which is the way vampires slept. I crept towards Rudolph and, with one finger, taped his shoulder. In a split second, faster then a lightening bolt, his eyes shot open and he went from hanging upside down to his feet flat on the ground and his hand clutching my left wrist very tightly.

"Rudolph stop, it is me... Marianne!" He snapped out of it and let go of my wrist, his fangs drawing back in.

"I am sorry Marianne, you just startled me. I thought you were Rookery."

"It is alright."

"Why are you here?" He asked, in a whisper.

"Well, Tony is at the McAshton house, and my aunt is in town for the day, so Victoria and I had nothing to do."

"There is not much that I can do with you because it is day light." He replied, sitting down on a rock. Victoria and I sat next to him. I sighed.

"Yeah I know. It must be boring being a vampire." He chuckled.

"That is funny of you to say, because when it was you and I that went flying alone you made the statement that it must be exciting to be a vampire." I nudged his arm and he grinned. Victoria laughed.

"Well then I take that back... I now think it must be boring to be one."

"It is boring, as well as lonely... and at times it can be fun." He said, as he winked at me.

Rudolph, Victoria, and I just sat around talking, while his family slept, although not long after Victoria and I started talking with Rudolph, his brother Gregory woke up and just sat near us, watching, which was kind of creepy.

One hour later, Rudolph was explaining to us a little more about the magician who made the piece of the comet Atimore, into the amulet that we were searching for, when suddenly Anna woke up and said to us,

"Tony is calling." I stood up from the rock I was sitting on, and asked,

"Can you hear his whistle?" I asked her, but she did not answer. I looked at Rudolph, who was also listening.

"We can hear it, which means he needs us... he may be in danger." Rudolph said.

"But we cannot go out, the sunlight..." Anna said.

Gregory suggested that we open one of the tombs and see if any of the bodies were wearing capes or something long that could cover Rudolph and Anna. Good thing, two of the tombs had bodies that wore long hooded cloaks. Rudolph and Anna each put one on and covered themselves as much as possible.

"This should work." Rudolph said. We slowly made our way up the stairs, out into the sunlight. It did not bother Anna and Rudolph, so the cloaks must be covering them well.

"Are you two alright?" Victoria asked.

"Yes, we are fine. Now, let us hurry to the McAshton house... it is not far from here." Rudolph replied. We hurried, as quick as we could, a cross the farmers field, and through a small bit of woods and then a cross another field, until a large mansion came into view.

"That is it, the McAshton mansion." I said, recognizing the blimp above the golf course, near the fields. The four of us hurried towards the back of the house and then crouched down beside a tree.

"I hear his whistle again... it is coming from..." Anna looked around, trying to figure out where the sound of Tony's whistle was travelling from.

"Over there!" She said. We hurried over to the mausoleum.

"It is the McAshton family mausoleum." I said. Victoria and I both tugged at the heavy door and finally slid it open enough for the four of us to squeeze in. We hurried down the stairs and saw the coffin where the lid had been moved. Rudolph and I pushed it open and Tony sat up in it.

"Tony, thank goodness you are alright. Who did this to you?" I asked.

"Rookery did. He was down here with Lord McAshton."

"He must be helping Rookery look for the stone, since his ancestor, Elizabeth, was the last holder of it." Victoria said.

"But the stone is not here, as it should be... neither is Elizabeth." The five of us looked at each other, and Rudolph shook his head and sighed. I put my hand on his shoulder and said,

"Do not worry Rudolph, we will find it. We still have twelve hours until you all must be at the cliff for the ceremony." I said.

"I know, but I cannot help but feel frustrated. Father is counting on me to find the stone and bring it to him. He is the one who must perform the ceremony." He replied, looking at me.

We needed to work harder, I felt as though we were becoming lazy at searching for this stone.

"Alright, Tony and Victoria, listen up, please..." They both looked at me.

"We have to work harder at finding the stone. Our friends are depending on us to do so...

we cannot and will not let them down. Now, we already know that Elizabeth McAshton was the last holder of the stone, so we have to figure out where she would be. This is her marked grave, and she should be here, but obviously, we can all see that she is not. The only other place she can be is in the cemetery, in an unmarked grave." I told them. They nodded and Victoria said,

"Then back to the cemetery we must go."

Rudolph and Anna smiled at each other. We made our way out of the mausoleum and hurried back the way we had come.

When we got back to the cemetery, and back under ground, Rudolph turned to me and smiled, as the others walked on a head, to where Freda, Frederick, and Gregory were.

"Thank you for what you said when we were at the McAshton mausoleum. I appreciate everything you, Tony, and Victoria, are doing for my family and I. The words you spoke and the way you spoke them sounded like that of a born leader... which I admire about you. I also like that you also have spirit and a kind heart." Rudolph said to me, with a smile.

I did not know what to say... for once in my life, I was speechless.

"You admire me?" Is all that could come out of my mouth, which made him chuckle.

"I do. I always have since the first night we met."

I blushed and without hesitation, I embraced him, and smiled.

"Come now, we should get to others. We have a stone to find, and we only have eleven hours to do so." I said. He nodded, as we walked towards where the others were. Frederick stood up and approached Rudolph and I.

"Anna tells me that you think the stone is with Elizabeth McAshton in an unmarked grave?"

Frederick asked me. I nodded and replied,

"Yes sir, I believe it is. But I am not quite sure where that unmarked grave is."

Before he could say anything else, Tony pointed to a crack in the wall and said,

"Look at that rat, it just went through this crack here. Maybe this is a door..." Rudolph and I went over to it, and he examined it.

"Tony is right, I think it is a door. Gregory, help me open it." Rudolph said. We all watched as Gregory and Rudolph pushed the door open, to reveal a path way behind it.

"Father, are you coming?" Anna asked Frederick. He shook his head,

"No Anna, I will wait here with you mother and Gregory... you go with your friends. If you need help, we will be right here." He replied.

And so, Tony, Victoria, Rudolph, Anna, and I, made our way through the door and followed the path, which was going a bit down hill. It was dark, so it was a good thing that Tony had a small flash light in the pocket of his jeans.

We came to some stone steps which seemed to lead down more. Tony, Victoria, and I began to walk down them, but Rudolph and Anna stopped. Victoria turned and asked,

"What is wrong?"

"We cannot go any further..." Rudolph replied.

"There is something down there... some sort of a curse." Anna added. Victoria looked at me, and I nodded.

"It is fine, stay there and we will go a head and see what is down here." I said to them. They both nodded.

We went down a few more steps, then we entered a room, where there was a large stone coffin with heavy chains wrapped around them. On the chains, on the lid of the coffin, it said something.

"There is something written on the coffin, I do not know what it means!" I shouted to Rudolph and Anna.

"What does it say?" Rudolph asked. I looked at the words and read it out loud, as best as I could.

"Să păziţi-vă vampir."

"Let the vampire beware." I heard Rudolph say.

"What language is that?" Tony asked.

"It is Romanian. And it is most definitely a curse. Anna and I cannot go down there until it is broken. Can you find a way to break the chains?" Rudolph shouted back to me.

"I really have no idea how you expect us to break chains..." Victoria said with a laugh.

"We need a miracle." Tony said with a sigh. Suddenly a bit of dirt started falling from above. Tony, Victoria, and I backed away as a large machine came down and started tangling with the chains. The chains did break and the curse was broken, so Rudolph and Anna came down and helped us open the lid.

Inside was Elizabeth McAshton and a man.

"It's Elizabeth." Tony said.

"And uncle Von. But why are they buried together?"Rudolph questioned.

"Do you not see their hands..." I said to him. We all looked at there right hands, which were together... they were holding hands. Victoria and Anna smiled,

"Oh how sweet, they were in love." Victoria said. Tony rolled his eyes, and Rudolph laughed when he did.

"Does anyone else see, besides them holding hands, that the stone is not in here." I stated.

Tony took the chain around Elizabeth's neck and looked, but there was no stone on it. Suddenly, he gripped it a bit tighter and looked at the wall, in front of him. His expression was the same as it was when he had that vision about Elizabeth and Von in the cave. He then, let go of the chain and took a deep breath,

"Tony dearest, what did you see?" Anna asked.

"The stone is in my room!" He said.

"Is that what you saw?" I asked.

"Yes. I saw Elizabeth and Von being chased by people with fire torches and wooden stakes.

They got Von and staked him, but Elizabeth ran into my house, trying to escape. She shut the door and lifted a floor board, then she took the stone off her chain and put it in the straw underneath. Then, the people came into the room and staked her." He explained.

"I guess she knew that they wanted the stone for the power it would give them, but she could not let that happen, so she hid it before they were able to kill her." Victoria said.

"Well, my friend, if it is at your room, then we must go there now." Rudolph said. We all made our way back up the stairs and told Rudolph's parents about the vision. They told us to go right away and get the stone, for the ceremony would be happening soon... it was already dark out.

When we got to the house, we saw that uncle Bob's car was not in the driveway, which meant that him and aunt Donna were not home yet, but I was sure that they would be home soon, so we had to hurry. Rudolph and Anna flew us up to the balcony of Tony's room, and we opened the door and went in.

"Tony, where did you see her hide the stone?" Victoria asked.

"Right there, in front of my bed." He pointed. Rudolph grabbed the metal fire place poker and handed it me. I began lifting floor boards, as Tony and Rudolph search amongst the straw underneath. It was not long before Tony pulled out, what looked like, a small purse. It was white silk and had a name, in gold embroidery, on it. The name was Elizabeth McAshton.

I motioned Tony to hand me the purse. When he did, I opened it and pulled out a piece of cloth, which when I unwrapped it, revealed a beautiful red stone. I gasped at it and held it out for everyone to see. Rudolph came to my side and I gave it to him.

"The stone of Atimore. We finally found it." He said. He looked at me and smiled, then we embraced each other.

"I cannot believe it, all our dreams will finally come true Anna. We will be human, and our lives will change completely!" Rudolph said to her, in a happy tone of voice. Anna embraced her brother.

"Let's go, we must tell father and mother." Rudolph said. Just as we were about to go back out onto the balcony and head back to the cemetery, there was a loud crash and into the room, stepped a man, holding that same machine that had almost killed me.

"It is Rookery!" Rudolph shouted, as he pushed us all in back of him, protecting us.

"Give me that stone, you filthy blood sucker!" He said, angrily.

"No! It belongs to my family!" Rudolph shouted, gripping the stone tightly, in his hand.

"It belongs to me!" He shouted back, as he held up his machine and prepared to fire a wooden stake at Rudolph. I did not jump in front of him this time, instead we all ducked and the wooden stake went flying out the window. We all laughed at that, which angered Rookery. He dropped the machine and came at Rudolph to get the stone.

Anna stood back, as Tony came up to Rookery and was about to kick him in the shin, but he grabbed Tony before he could and gripped him in his arms. Since he now had the stone from Rudolph's hand, he took Tony and ran out onto the balcony, throwing an inflatable landing cushion and jumped down onto it.

"Oh no, he is getting away. We have to go after him." We watched as Rookery got into his truck with Tony and drove off.

"What are we going to do... he took Tony with him because he knew we would go after him, so he could get another chance to kill us?"

"We must go now, and get Tony and the stone back from Rookery. We have to be at the cliff soon, and father must have to the stone." Anna said.

"I have an idea..." I said.

Anna held onto Victoria's hand and I held onto Rudolph's, as we flew and followed Rookery's truck. Tony let go of my hand, so now Anna was in the middle of Victoria and I, she was the only one keeping us in the air. Rudolph swooped down above the truck and silently landed on it.

As Rookery was blabbing on about how the stone would give him the greatest power and he would be able to kill all the vampires in Scotland, Tony was smart and quietly, switched the stone, inside the little purse, and put the dead mouse that Anna had given him for luck, inside it. When Rookery noticed he had the purse in his hand, he tried to grab it from him, and drive his truck at the same time.

I looked a head and saw that the road Rookery was driving on, was a dead end, it led right to the edge of a cliff.

"Rudolph you must get Tony out of that truck now, or he will go over the cliff with Rookery!"

I shouted to Rudolph. He looked up at me and nodded.

Rudolph put his hand down, through the roof hole and said,

"Tony, take my hand." Tony smiled as he successfully took Rudolph's hand and was lifted from the truck. Rookery shouted after him.

The two of them flew next to us, as we flew away from the truck and headed for the cemetery.

"But Rookery... he still has the stone, we have to get it back." Anna said. Tony shook his head, as he pulled the stone from his pocket.

"No we don't, I got it right here."

We all smiled at each other and shouted, in unison,

"WOO HOO!"

We were successful, and now the cliff, where Frederick, Freda, and Gregory would be waiting, so that the ceremony could be performed and they could become human.


	11. Chapter 10 This is not goodbye

11:40pm. - At the cemetery.

We landed at the cliff twenty minutes before midnight, and were just on time. We saw about twenty other vampires gathered at the cliff, and they all gathered around Victoria, Tony, and I.

Frederick came over to us and said to the other vampires,

"It is alright everyone, they are friends."

Rudolph came to me and took my hand, then we walked over to Frederick and Freda.

"We got it father, the stone." Rudolph said, as he handed the stone to Frederick, who smiled widely. I watched as he held it up in the air and shouted to all the vampires,

"The stone of Atimore is ours!"

All the vampires sighed in relief as they all seemed to bask in the glory of the beautiful red stone. They all went to the edge of the cliff, except for Rudolph, who kept a hold of my hand and walked, with me, over to Tony and Victoria.

"I must take my leave now, my friends. Thank you for all your help, and I hope to see you both again soon." Rudolph said to the three of us. We smiled, and Victoria approached him and even gave him a hug, which made him smile. Tony looked sad, so Rudolph let go of my hand and went to his side.

"Do not be sad Tony, I will see you again soon."

"Yeah, but how soon... it could be years from now?" Rudolph looked at me, so I went to Tony's other side and said,

"Tony, listen to me. No matter where Rudolph is, in this world, we will all still be his friends.

And when we do see him again, nothing will have changed between the four of us, we will still be good friends with him, just as we have been these past ten days." I said. Victoria and Rudolph smiled.

"Marianne, come over here with me." Rudolph said, taking my hand into his again. I smiled and nodded. We walked towards the other vampires, together, and then stopped. I watched as Rudolph took something out of his coat pocket.

"Hold out your hand." He said. When I held out my hand, he placed a necklace in the palm of it and said,

"I want you to have this. I have an identical one, the only difference is that the stone on mine is amber coloured, on yours it is magenta."

I looked at the necklace and smiled widely, then I embraced him, and whispered in his ear,

"Thank you Rudolph." Before I pulled away, I kissed his cold cheek. I could not help but let a few tears fall from my eyes.

"I will miss you." He said to me.

"I will miss you too, but like I said to Tony, we will all see each other again soon." He nodded.

"Hopefully it will be sooner then a few years." He added. I let out a small laugh, then Frederick called to Rudolph. We turned around and saw that they were all gathered at the cliff, ready to begin the ceremony.

Rudolph turned back to me, and kissed my hand.

"Goodbye Rudolph." I said. He shook his head,

"This is not goodbye Marianne. Instead of saying goodbye, we will say see you again someday." I laughed and nodded,

"Alright. See you again someday." I said. He let go of my hand, and turned to walk away, but before he did, he replied,

"Sooner then you think." I did not say anything back to him. Tony and Victoria came to my side and watched, with me, as Rudolph joined his family. Frederick held the stone of Atimore up to the comet, which was passing over the moon. Suddenly a bright red light came down and hit the stone.

Victoria, Tony, and I watched in amazement, as smoke seemed to rise up from the ground and surround all the vampires. Rudolph turned around, looking at us, smiling. He soon disappeared in the smoke and then one by one all the others did as well.

The ceremony lasted only two minutes or so, and when it was over, the light disappeared and the comet passed by the moon and went dark. Tony ran to where all the vampires had been standing, and looked around.

"They are gone." Victoria said.

"That was amazing, but strange." I said. Victoria sighed and said,

"Well, we better get back home, because it is midnight and uncle Bob and aunt Donna are probably worried sick about us."

"They will send out a search party if we do not go now."

Tony followed us, as we made our way down the hill and through the farmers meadows. It was dark, but Tony still had his flash light, so we used it to see our way back home. It took thirty minutes to get home, and when we finally got there, we were surprised to see that uncle Bob's truck was still not in the driveway, and all the lights were still off.

"They must still be out." I said. It was a good thing I had my key for the front door, or else we would be locked out until they got home. When the door was unlocked, I opened the door and we went inside and I shut the door behind me.

Then I heard a vehicle pull up in the driveway. I looked out the window and saw that uncle Bob and aunt Donna were home.

"They are home! Quick we have to go upstairs and act as though we have been here all night." I said. Three of us ran up the large staircase and just as we got to my room, I heard the front door open, then close.

I closed my bedroom door quietly, and as Tony and I kicked off our shoes into my closest, Victoria turned on the television and put it to the history channel. The three of us managed to lay on our stomach's, side by side, on the bed, just as uncle Bob and aunt Donna were coming up the stairs.

When they opened the door, the three of us looked at them and smiled.

"Mom, dad, you're home late." Tony said.

"What are you all still doing awake?" Uncle Bob asked.

"Oh Tony wanted to watch this two hour history channel special with Victoria and I. It over though." I said, switching off the television. Uncle Bob and aunt Donna looked at each other, and shrugged their shoulders.

"Ok, well it's time for you to go to bed Tony... let's go." Aunt Donna said. He nodded and got off the bed.

"Good night Victoria and Marianne." He said. We smiled and said good nigh to him, as he walked out of the room with uncle Bob.

"Good night girls." Aunt Donna said, with a smile.

"Good night." Victoria and I replied, in unison.

When she shut the door, Victoria and I rolled over onto our back and started to laugh.

"My god, I am so tired. These past ten days have been the longest of my life." Victoria said.

"Yes, same with me, but was it not all worth it... not getting much sleep for ten days because we were helping the dream of an immortal family, come true?"

"True. It was all worth it." Victoria replied, with a nod. I turned over on my side, facing her, and sighed.

"I miss him already." I said.

"It will alright Marianne, you will see again someday."

"He told me to say that to him, instead of goodbye, and then just as he walked away, he said, sooner then you think."

"Really? Well that means if will not be years from now that you see him again..."

"I sure hope not."

Victoria and I got into our pyjamas and went to bed, because we were both very tired and needed a good nights rest. Although, Victoria fell a sleep before me, I was awake until 2am, thinking of Rudolph and going over everything that had happened in these past ten days.


	12. Chapter 11 Fourty two days later

August 10th. - Marianne's fifteenth birthday.

For my birthday, we all went into town for lunch, then aunt Donna bought me some gifts, from some of the stores. I preferred picking my gifts out, then letting others surprise me with them.

After choosing a shirt and a pair of jeans, in one of the department stores, Victoria, aunt Donna, and I went into the market to look at the jewelry, while Tony and uncle Bob looked at the yo-yo's, which a man was hand making at the craft table.

I saw a necklace, on the rack, that looked like the one I was wearing. I had not taken mine off since Rudolph gave it to me, at the cliff.

I turned around because I got startled by a truck that made a loud noise, because it was stopping. I saw that it stopped in front of one of the town houses, that had a sign in front of it saying it had been sold. Just as I was about to turn away and continue looking at the necklaces, I saw two people standing outside near the truck. I walked towards the house, and as I got closer, I saw that the guy looked a lot like Rudolph and the girl looked a lot like Anna, except her hair was a very light blond.

"Marianne, what are you doing?" I heard Victoria shout after me. She walked after me, and when I stopped, she asked me,

"Who are you looking at?"

"Please tell me that those two over there are Rudolph and Anna..." I said, pointing to where I was looking. Victoria looked and seemed to have a surprised expression on her face, as I had on mine.

"If it is them, then they might hear if we whistle." Victoria said.

"But what if that was only something they could hear when they were vampires... if it is even them?" I questioned.

"Try it anyways." She urged. I pursed my lips together and started to whistle.

Victoria and I watched as the two slowly turned away, looking our way. Victoria smiled widely.

"It must be them! They are looking right at us!"

Victoria said, in an excited tone. I did not say anything, I just ran towards them. When I got closer, the guy dropped his suit case and approached me.

"Marianne?" He said, looking at me.

"Rudolph." I whispered to myself. We ran towards each other, and when I reached his arms, he held me tight, spinning me around in one circle, then putting me down.

"Bloody hell Rudolph... it is you. I knew it, when I started to whistle and you and Anna looked at me." I said to him, still in his embrace.

"But did you think it was us, before you started to whistle, so you tried to see if we could still hear it?" He asked.

"Yes, I did. Victoria is the one who told me to whistle." I said, letting go of him and motioning Victoria to come over. She smiled and approached us. Rudolph smiled at her and gave her a hug.

"Nice to see you again Rudolph." She said.

"You too Victoria." He replied. He turned and motioned Anna to come over, just as two adults and another guy walked out of the house. It was Gregory, Frederick, and Freda. The three of them looked at us, and then walked over with smiles.

"Well hello there Marianne and Victoria." Freda said.

"So you found us?" Frederick asked, with a smile.

"We sure did." I said. Rudolph and I smiled at each other as I put my arm around his shoulder and his went around my waist. I turned and looked waved over to Tony, uncle Bob, and aunt Donna. The three of them saw me, but Tony is the only one who ran over to us.

"Rudolph, you're back!" He shouted happily. Rudolph and him gave each other a high five.

"I sure am dude." Rudolph replied.

When uncle Bob and aunt Donna came over to us, we introduced the Ssckville-Bagg's to them as friends we had met we when first moved here, but they were so very busy that they did not have time to meet them until now. Thank goodness they believed us, and did not question it.

Freda and Frederick invited us all inside their new house, for aunt Donna and uncle Bob to have a cub of tea with them, and for Rudolph, Anna, Gregory, Victoria, Tony, and I, to talk for a while.

Victoria, Anna, and Gregory, agreed to play tag with Tony, but Rudolph and I decided to go for a walk. We walked hand in hand, from the back yard, around to the front.

"So this is what you meant when you said ''sooner then you think''...? That we would see each other again this soon..."

"Exactly." He replied. We stopped near a large tree, and shared a kiss. This time, unlike the first, when I kissed Rudolph, his lips were warm. I felt my heart fill up again, as there had been a whole in it since the night of the ceremony when it happened.


	13. Chapter 12 Four years later

October 26th 2011. - Entry #1.

Dear diary,

It has been four years since Victoria, Tony, and I met Rudolph... when he was a vampire.

A lot has happened since then, and now we are older and different. I am now nineteen, Rudolph is twenty, Victoria is twenty-one, Tony is fourteen, Anna is fourteen, and Gregory is twenty-two.

Victoria and Gregory had left Scotland, together, two years ago, to travel the world for one year. After that they moved to LA, where Victoria started college and Gregory opened his own music store, with just about every single record ever made from the 1950's to modern day.

My most recent letter from Victoria was her telling me the happy news that her and Gregory are engaged.

Tony and Anna are still in school, and he tells me that they are dating... which I find very sweet, because I still remember how it felt to love someone, like that, at fourteen. ;)

And as for Rudolph and I... well, we are leaving Scotland tomorrow to go live together in London. Four years ago, only a few days after we had first met, I had told him that when I finished school, I was moving back to London. We are in love, and have been since four months after the ceremony, on the cliff, had taken place. Of course, as these past four years have gone by, we have fallen more in love and it has come to the point, that if he ever asks me to marry him, I would not even have to think of my answer, I would just say yes!

Just as I was about to finish the entry, I heard someone walk into the room. I closed my diary and turned my head, to see Rudolph standing there at the doorway just smiling at me. I smiled back and sat up, as he came and sat next to me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him, our lips soft and warm against each others. I remember how it was when I had first kissed him, four years ago, his lips were as cold as ice. We looked into each others eyes and he began to caress my cheek.

His chain, that hung down touching my chest, was the one he had always been wearing, since we met... it was just like mine, except the stone was an amber colour.

"I cannot believe that we are leaving Scotland tomorrow..." I said.

"Yes, I am looking forward to it."

"I am to, but I will be sad when I say goodbye to everyone."

"Do not worry, at least you will not be going alone... I will be with you." Rudolph said.

I smiled and kissed him again, then replied,

"I know."

October 27th.

While Rudolph, Frederick (Rudolph's father), uncle Bob, and Tony packed my car, I sat at at the kitchen table with Freda (Rudolph's mother) and aunt Donna. I was having a cup of tea with them before it was time to leave.

"I am going to miss Scotland. I just keep going over every single memory I have from living here. Even though I have only been living here for four years, it feels like so much longer."

I said.

"Well, I am so happy that Bob and I have made your time living here, happy for you."

"Yes, aunt Donna, and I will never forget how you took me in and even let Victoria live with us as well, because I just could not leave my kindred spirit and come here, to Scotland, alone."

The three of us laughed.

"I must say, Marianne, that Rudolph has changed, in many good ways, in the past four years, ever since you, Victoria, and Tony became friends with him."

"I know, I have seen him change since then. I remember I first realized that I loved him, after the days started to pass, after the ceremony on the cliff, when all I could think about was him... and how much I missed him." Freda and aunt Donna smiled.

"Do you think you two will ever get married, and have a family together?" Freda asked.

"I do not know, but I hope so." I replied.

One hour later, Rudolph and I said goodbye to aunt Donna, uncle Bob, Frederick, Freda, Tony, and Anna. I had a few tears in my eyes when I gave aunt Donna and uncle Bob a hug because I was going to miss them.

"Make sure to call us when you get to London." Uncle Bob said to me. I smiled and whipped my tears.

"I will uncle Bob."

I looked at Rudolph and Tony, who were talking.

"Good luck with my sister dude, she will be a hand full for you." Rudolph said to him, with a smirk.

"I will not!" Anna said, crossing her arms.

"I am only teasing you sis. Behave for mother and father... and stay out of trouble." He said to her. She smiled and embraced him.

"I promise that I will, Rudolph."

Tony gave Rudolph a high five. It seemed funny now that they were still friends because Rudolph was an adult and Tony was still a teenager, being only fourteen years old. But their friendship has stayed strong these past four years.

"You stay out of trouble also dude. Take care of my sister for me, and I will see you in December." He said to Tony.

"I'll be looking forward to it. Although, it will not be like the first time we met, we will not be going flying to catch up."

This made Freda and Frederick laugh.

"No we will not be, but instead I will take you for a ride in my motorcycle. I am planning on buying one after I get a job in London."

"Woah really? Wow. Good luck trying to save up enough money for that." Tony joked.

"Oh I will. I will not be buying an expensive one."

I smiled at Rudolph as he took my hand. We got into the car, and I told Rudolph that he could drive. It was a seven hour drive to London.

"We will see you at Christmas time, guys. Goodbye." I said, waving from the car.

"Have a safe trip." Aunt Donna said.

Rudolph started up the car, and we drove down the driveway. I looked up at the house and closed my eyes. I remembered when the taxi pulled up into the driveway, when Victoria and I moved here.

We drove away, down the long winding road. With hand on the steering wheel, Rudolph took my hand with his free one, and kissed it. I smiled and turned on the stereo, which was playing Last Friday Night – By: Katy Perry... it was my favourite song. I started to sing, making motions and expressions as I did, which made Rudolph laugh.


	14. Epilogue

The only thing I can really say about the adventure that Tony, Victoria, and I had been on with Rudolph, those four years ago, was that it was the best thing to ever happen to us. We had made new friends and formed a bond with them that would last for years and years to come. Of course, as you read, in my diary entry, Gregory and Victoria were engaged, so obviously they fell in love... it happened maybe about one month after we met back up with them, on my fifteenth birthday.

If only my mum and dad would have been alive to see what has happened to me and how much I have changed since moving in with aunt Donna and uncle Bob, four years ago. Scotland was now my second home, and I would always go back to visit


End file.
